How Many Bike Tests do we need?

Motorcycles = less congestion on the road, lower pollution/CO2 emissions, cheaper to run/maintain and being loads more fun but to get your bike licence as of October 2008 you will have to take 4, Yes 4 tests, Test 1, CBT, Test 2, Theory, Test 3, NEW OFF ROAD TEST, Test 4, Finally on road test, BUT you must pass the new off road test before being able to proceed to the on road test.

Yet at the age of 17 you take 2 tests to receive your full car licence, Test 1, theory, Test 2, On road test, and once you have passed you will be able to jump in to any car that is in production.

How about a bit of common sense here, how about making CBTs compulsory on ALL tests after all we all know the first thing a car driver says at the scene of any accident is SMIDSY, If the CBT was mandatory at least they would have some idea what the perils faced by bikers are on a day to day basis and hopefully be a bit more aware of bikes.

Lets put things into comparison at the moment at the age of 17 once you have passed your full bike test you are able to ride ANY BIKE RESTRICTED TO 33bhp for 2 years. After 2 years you are able to ride any bike you can afford to buy & insure.At the age of 17 once you have passed your car test you are able to drive ANY car that is on the road (so if you have a rich daddy you can theoretically jump into his Porsche 911 turbo).

Now how much more sensible would it be if new drivers were restricted to cars not exceeding say 1200cc for at least 2 years, especially as 17 year olds have 25% more car claims than motorcycles/mopeds.

If by some chance you have not heard about or seen the new proposed off road test a copy is shown below, To accommodate this new test, new SUPER TEST CENTRES are being built, if your instructors do not have access to a suitable area to train you for this they can hire the test course subject to no tests being taken at time and also availability and subject to price, (HMMM more expense) or am I being to cynical?